Steely Ann: Greater Mankato’s premier Steely Dan tribute band

Steely Ann performs the music of Steely Dan with female leads and jazz-heavy interpretations of iconic instrumental solos. Founded in 2021 and based 75 miles southwest of Minneapolis in the Minnesota River Valley, Steely Ann is a passion project for some of the region’s most acclaimed performers and instructors. The band is Ann Rosenquist Fee (vocals), Rachel Maccabee (vocals), Chaz Draper (drums), Larry McDonough (keys, vocals), Craig Matarrese (bass), and Jonathan Moeller (guitar, vocals). Steely Ann has performed as part of the Hot Jazz for Decent People series in St. Peter and at The Grand Kabaret in New Ulm, Mankato Playhouse (ticketed), and The Kato Ballroom (ticketed).

Media

Steely Ann CurrentsDownload

Video Clips

Rikki (part 1 of 2) at The Grand Kabaret 2023
Rikki (part 2 of 2) at The Grand Kabaret 2023
Do It Again at Mankato Playhouse 2023
Aja at Mankato Playhouse 2023

In which bassist Craig Matarrese provides an update on the (entirely sober) Cuervo Gold-related injury he sustained during load-out from the band’s debut show, thanks to a tourniquet, an ambulance driver, and pure luck.

About the Musicians

  • Ann Rosenquist Fee (vocals) is executive director of the Arts Center of Saint Peter (est. 1979), an art gallery and performance space in the Minnesota River Valley. Ann is also a vocalist with Joe Tougas & Associates, a style writer for Mankato Magazine, and a tarot card reader. More at annrosenquistfee.com.
  • Rachel Maccabee (vocals) is a nomadic warrior of light who proudly displays her GED along with her credentials in conflict analysis and resolution from the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. She is also a member of the Twin Cities Justice Choir.
  • Chaz Draper (drums) has performed and recorded in seven countries on four continents with artists such as Billy Preston,  Lawrence Welk, Free and Easy,  Airborne, Shotgun, Rise and Shine, Joe Schultz, Mamie Van Doren, Anita O’Day, the Mankato Symphony and Brotherhood. But he’s probably best known in southern Minnesota as Liz Draper’s dad. Besides Steely Ann, he also drums in Blue Earth Collective, The Thru Line Quartet, and is a singer/songwriter/guitarist with The Coyotes.
  • Craig Matarrese (bass) is a professor of philosophy at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he also teaches bass guitar. He co-produced and provided the musical score for the 2022 documentary “Rez Metal,” which follows members of a heavy metal music community in Navajo Nation.
  • Larry McDonough (keyboard, vocals) is an award-winning St. Paul jazz composer, pianist, singer, and teacher, performing around the world and recording with his group the Larry McDonough Quartet as well as solo, and in duos and trios. He has performed with legendary saxophonist and composer Benny Golson, Trombonist Fred Wesley, and trumpeter Duane Eubanks, as well as a who’s who of local jazz artists, and was inducted into the Minnesota Rock Country Hall of Fame for his work in the group Danny’s Reasons. His awards include the American Composers Forum Showcase Award for the composition “Strait of Gibraltar.” He has released eleven CDs and DVDs as a leader. His current CDs are “Kind of Bill on the Palace Grounds, Marking 40 Years since the Death of Bill Evans,” playing on jazz radio stations and streaming services around the country, and “Intermodulating Undercurrents Live at the Kos: The Music of Bill Evans and Jim Hall.” The two-CD set “Alice in Stonehenge and other AcoustElectric Adventures” has played on radio stations and streaming services around the world and charted #18 on the Roots Music Report’s Top 50 Jazz Album Chart. “Simple Gifts” reached number 29 on the CMJ Jazz Chart and also has been played on hundreds of stations around the country and throughout the world. His other jazz projects include Fusebox (original jazz fusion trio) and Trios Trio (classic jazz). When not playing in Steely Ann or performing jazz, he performs jam fusion in Quantum Mechanics, funk in Funkin’ Right, classic rock in Whiskey Burn, indie-rock in HiFi, and punk in Saint Small. More at http://www.larrymcdonoughjazz.homestead.com.
  • Johnathan Moeller (guitar, vocals) is a freelance guitarist and music educator who has performed nationally and internationally opening for notable acts such as Quietdrive, Home Free, Tonic Sol-Fa, The Lamont Cranston Band, Adam Wakefield, Erik Koskinen, The Claudettes, Wild Belle, Chad Brownlee, Chris Hawkey, John Conlee and Diamond Rio. He has shared the stage with numerous artists including Annie Mack, American Idol’s Shelby Tweten & Aliya Mukamuri, Chris Rupp, 7th Ave Band, Stacy K., Debbie Anthony, The DW3, Gena Johnson, Lola Jane, Adrian Barnett, The Farmer’s Daughters, Estaire Godinez, The Tony Flynn Project and The Jerry Rodes Band to name a few. In 2008 he received an Award for Outstanding Soloist at the Eau Claire Jazz Festival. You can hear his playing on Chris Rupp’s album “A Little More Christmas,” Gleeman and the Geek, A United Way Jingle, and in the International Film “Rez Metal.” He is on music faculty at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Olaf College and Bethany Lutheran College.

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